How Can Foreign and Out-of-State Investors Successfully Buy US Real Estate Remotely?
Investing in US real estate from abroad—or even from across the country—used to mean a mountain of paperwork, unreliable contacts, and a real risk of landing in the wrong market. That’s changing fast. On a recent episode of The Real Estate Investing Club, host Gabe Petersen sat down with Yuval Golan, founder of GetWaltz.com—a platform that describes itself as “the Amazon checkout plus financing for real estate.” Yuval has purchased property in China, Greece, New York, Florida, and Arizona, and has built a system that lets international and out-of-state buyers close on US properties in as little as 14 days.
This episode is packed with hard-won insight on market selection, deal sourcing, landlord-friendly states, AI-powered underwriting, and why relationships—not commissions—are the real currency of real estate investing.
Quick Answer: How Can Foreign and Out-of-State Investors Buy US Real Estate Remotely?
Foreign and out-of-state investors can successfully buy US real estate remotely by targeting landlord-friendly Sun Belt states (Florida, Texas, Georgia, Arizona), using strict market-selection criteria, leveraging AI-powered platforms like GetWaltz for remote closings, and paying partners well to source quality off-market inventory.
Why Is the United States the Best Country for Foreign Real Estate Investors?
After exploring property markets in Israel, Thailand, Brazil, Argentina, and Greece, Yuval Golan kept running into the same wall: broken systems for non-residents. Mortgages were unavailable to foreigners, bank accounts couldn’t be opened, foreign exchange spreads wiped out returns, and interest rates reached 90% in some markets.
The United States, by contrast, offers a combination of transparent legal frameworks, enforceable contracts, accessible financing, and stable long-term appreciation that is nearly impossible to replicate elsewhere.
As Yuval explained on the podcast:
“It was like broken for non-residents, unless you buy cash. Brazil—no accounts for foreigners and foreign exchange spread was like five to ten percent, so that kills your investment. Buenos Aires—90% interest rate. Thailand—no mortgage for foreigners so you can’t leverage.”
The US stands apart because contracts are reliably enforced, the property rights system is mature, and financing is accessible to qualified foreign buyers through specialized lenders. Gabe reinforced this point: “If you have a contract, it is easy to enforce. The United States is good at that.”
For a deeper look at building a portfolio across asset classes and markets, see our guide on how to diversify your real estate portfolio across asset classes and the capital stack.
Which US States Should Remote and Foreign Investors Target—and Why?
Not all US states are created equal for investors. Landlord-tenant laws, eviction timelines, and local tax structures vary enormously—and getting this wrong can turn a profitable property into a multi-year nightmare.
Yuval learned this lesson the hard way in Greece. A publicly traded hospitality company called Selena occupied his hotel, went out of business, and then refused to leave—using local tenant-protection laws to stay rent-free for 18 months while demanding payment to vacate.
“That’s exactly why I choose the red states,” Yuval said. “No pay, sheriff, force, shotgun, you’re out.”
His top target markets today are:
- Florida – Particularly the Tampa Bay area (Port Richey, Port St. Lucie). Strong population growth, aging demographics, and good school districts. Miami offers appreciation but lower yields.
- Texas – Investor-friendly laws, no state income tax, and strong job-market fundamentals.
- Georgia – Affordable entry prices combined with consistent population inflows to the Atlanta metro.
- Arizona – Specifically the Scottsdale area, which Yuval is actively targeting for his next acquisition.
States to avoid? California, Washington, and other high-regulation markets where evictions are slow and landlord protections are weak. As Gabe noted from his own experience: “Washington State is one of those places.”
If you’re considering a move from single-family to larger multifamily investments in these markets, read our breakdown of the single-family to multifamily transition.
What Investment Criteria Should Remote Buyers Use to Evaluate US Properties?
One of the most actionable parts of this episode was Yuval’s specific, data-driven checklist for evaluating properties remotely. Rather than relying on gut feel or agent recommendations, he applies a consistent filter that protects against both market risk and individual property risk.
Here is his full investment criteria framework:
| Criterion | Target Threshold | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price vs. market value | 15–20% below market | Provides a buffer against price corrections |
| Median household income / annual rent ratio | 4–5x or higher | Ensures tenants can actually afford the rent |
| Owner-occupancy rate | 70–80% or higher | Signals a neighborhood where people can afford to own, not just rent |
| Vacancy rate | Below 10% | Low vacancy = strong demand and rent stability |
| School district quality | Above average / highly rated | Attracts long-term, family tenants who stay |
| Property vintage | Built after 1980 | Reduces hidden maintenance and infrastructure risk |
| Price appreciation vs. national average | Within ~2–3% standard deviation of US average | Avoids overheated markets due for a correction |
That last point is worth emphasizing. Yuval actively avoids markets that have outperformed the US average by 5% or more over the prior decade. “That means this place would be corrected,” he explained. “Maybe I’m wrong so let others make money. I just don’t touch those places.”
Gabe echoed this philosophy of narrowing your criteria: “I’ve become a bigger and bigger fan of adding things to my criteria so that the window of what I’ll actually look at narrows—because then it makes it a lot easier to actually make offers. You’re not looking at 100,000 deals. You’re looking at 5 or 10.”
For more on how to find the right opportunities without chasing every lead, see our post on how to find off-market properties and our full guide on off-market real estate success strategies.
How Does GetWaltz Enable Remote Real Estate Closings for International Buyers?
The operational challenge of buying US real estate from abroad isn’t just about finding the right market—it’s the paperwork, the entity setup, the banking, the financing, and the closing logistics. GetWaltz was built to compress all of that into a single, streamlined experience.
Here is what Yuval described as their process:
- Identity verification – Completed within seconds on the platform.
- US-based LLC setup – Entity formation with all documentation for real estate investment and tax optimization, also done within seconds.
- Business bank account – A dedicated bank account for the LLC is opened as part of the onboarding process.
- Direct lending – GetWaltz acts as a direct lender, offering competitive mortgage rates without the need for a traditional bank relationship.
- Insurance – Available through the platform at group rates, with savings passed directly to clients.
- Remote closing – The entire transaction closes remotely, with closings possible in as few as 14 days.
“We are kind of the Amazon checkout plus financing for real estate,” Yuval said. “We close you remotely and we close you as quickly as 14 days, super competitive rates.”
The AI component is central to the efficiency. Because GetWaltz sees mortgage data, appraisals, rent projections, and market correlations across a large dataset, Yuval uses anomaly detection to identify properties that his realtor network may be presenting that stand out as unusually strong buys. He is also already pre-qualified for lending—meaning he knows his terms before he makes an offer.
If you want to understand how AI is reshaping deal analysis and portfolio management more broadly, read our deep dive on AI real estate investing tools in 2025 and AI strategies for real estate investors.
Is Fractional Real Estate Investing a Good Strategy for Passive Income?
Fractional investing—where multiple investors pool capital to buy a single property—has historically been hampered by legal complexity, illiquidity, and high minimums. Platforms built around streamlining this process are making it far more accessible to everyday investors.
Yuval’s approach at GetWaltz is designed specifically for investors who want the economics of real estate without the operational grind. His philosophy comes through clearly in how he thinks about being a landlord:
“I rather have lower returns but I don’t want to know what it is. I always say I’m the nicest landlord. When something breaks, I tell my property manager to buy the best thing because I never want to hear the tenant complain. I want them to stay there forever. I don’t want to raise the rent and be crazy because vacancy is your worst enemy.”
This is a core insight for passive investors: chasing maximum rent is often a false economy. A long-term tenant who pays reliably is worth far more than a slightly higher rent that triggers turnover.
Gabe and his wife apply the same logic to their own long-term rentals in Washington: “We don’t even raise rents. People always say you should raise to market. I’m like, no. We’re cash-flowing. There’s no need. I don’t want our tenant to leave.”
For more frameworks on generating sustainable cash flow from residential and mixed-use assets, explore our cash flow wealth-building guide and our primer on remote real estate for passive income.
What Is the Best Way to Find Real Estate Deals as a Remote or Foreign Investor?
For investors operating from thousands of miles away, deal flow is the most persistent challenge. You cannot drive neighborhoods, knock on doors, or attend local meetups. So how do you generate a consistent pipeline?
Yuval’s answer was counterintuitive for many investors: stop negotiating fees with your partners.
“Being nice to partners. You’ll be surprised—if you negotiate with them on fees, you won’t get the deals. Pay more, because they’ll give you a deal that’s more discounted. If you pay less, you get less. For me, it’s win-win. You work for me, you find me inventory, you should get compensated.”
He illustrated this with a vivid story: his friend in Miami gave the restaurant hostess $50 the moment they walked in. When Yuval asked why, the friend explained: “She has information that you don’t have. She can sit you in a shitty spot that will destroy your night. But if you treat her nicely, she will get you in as fast as you can and puts you in the best spot.”
That same logic applies to realtors, property managers, wholesalers, and anyone else feeding you deal flow. Paying them generously builds loyalty—and loyalty is what gets you the phone call before a distressed deal hits the market.
Gabe reinforced this: “In the grand scheme of things, a thousand dollars, $10,000, $50,000 does not matter in terms of what you can get with good relationships.”
For more strategies on deal sourcing without picking up the phone cold, see our guide on raising real estate capital without cold calling and our overview of real estate wholesaling as a deal-finding channel.
Should Remote Investors Buy Short-Term Rentals or Long-Term Rentals?
The short-term rental (Airbnb/VRBO) market has attracted enormous investor interest—but both Yuval and Gabe pushed back on the idea that STRs are a good fit for remote or passive investors.
Their shared concern: short-term rentals are an operation, not a passive investment.
“Short-term rentals sounds like a full-time job,” Yuval said. “And if you don’t do it as a full-time job, don’t do it—unless you have someone you really, really trust to do it for you.”
Gabe added his own hesitation about STR inventory risk: “I don’t feel confident enough that my underwriting will be accurate and that there won’t be an influx of additional short-terms a couple of years down the road to the point where you won’t have the occupancy you’re projecting.”
In markets like Florida—where regulations on short-term rentals are relatively permissive—the risk of new supply outpacing demand is particularly real. Both investors have looked at STRs seriously and stepped back, preferring the predictability and lower maintenance burden of long-term leases.
If you’re evaluating whether the STR model could still work in the right market, read our analysis of how to find profitable short-term rental markets and our breakdown of Airbnb rental arbitrage strategy.
What Was Yuval Golan’s Best Real Estate Deal—and What Made It Work?
When Gabe asked for his favorite deal ever, Yuval didn’t hesitate: New York City during the peak of COVID-19.
The setup was classic contrarian investing. While the market was panicking and developers in New York couldn’t move inventory (with banks calling in debt daily), Yuval identified the asymmetry clearly: if New York falls, the global financial system falls with it. And if that doesn’t happen, it’s a buying opportunity on the scale of 2009.
He assembled a group of buyers, approached a distressed developer in Brooklyn, and negotiated to acquire 80 condominiums in one block transaction. The choice of Brooklyn over Manhattan came down to lower taxes and the appeal of a less congested neighborhood for residents escaping the density of the city core during lockdown.
“New York, no brainer,” he said on the podcast. “It was just like—why are people blind? I told them: if New York falls, we all fall. It’s done. The world is over. But if it’s good, it’s all fine. It’s a big city.”
The key ingredients of the deal:
- Distressed seller – Developer under pressure from lenders, motivated to clear inventory
- Contrarian thesis – Buying when fear was at its peak and the narrative was overwhelmingly negative
- Scale advantage – Bulk purchase of 80 units created negotiating leverage no individual buyer could match
- Favorable financing environment – Near-zero interest rates at the time meant the yield spread was highly attractive
For more on how to spot and structure distressed deals, see our guide on how to solve real estate deal problems and our overview of probate real estate investing as a source of distressed acquisition targets.
Key Takeaways: A Remote Investor’s Playbook for US Real Estate
Yuval Golan’s story spans a decade in China, a hotel in Greece, 80 condos in Brooklyn, and a technology platform that now helps international buyers close on US properties from anywhere in the world. The lessons distilled from this episode apply equally to first-time foreign buyers and experienced domestic investors looking to expand beyond their local market.
Here is the playbook in summary:
- Choose the US over other global markets. Enforceable contracts, accessible financing, and transparent legal processes make the US the most reliable market for international investors.
- Stay in landlord-friendly states. Florida, Texas, Georgia, and Arizona consistently top the list. Avoid high-regulation states where evictions are slow and costly.
- Use strict, quantitative criteria. Buy at 15–20% below market, target areas with high owner-occupancy, strong school systems, low vacancy, and appreciation in line with the national average.
- Leverage technology for remote closing. Platforms like GetWaltz compress entity setup, banking, lending, and closing into a streamlined, remote-first process.
- Pay your deal partners generously. Relationships—not platforms or databases—are the primary source of the best deals. Compensate well and receive premium inventory in return.
- Avoid short-term rentals unless you treat them as a business. STRs require active management and carry inventory risk that makes long-term underwriting unreliable for remote investors.
- Be the nicest landlord. Keep good tenants, fix problems quickly, and don’t raise rents unnecessarily. Vacancy is the single biggest killer of real estate returns.
Want to go even deeper on building a portfolio you can manage from anywhere? Read our guides on building real estate wealth while working full-time, turnkey real estate investing, and scaling your real estate business with virtual assistants.
About This Episode
This post is based on Episode 626 of The Real Estate Investing Club Podcast, hosted by Gabe Petersen. The guest, Yuval Golan, is the founder of GetWaltz.com—a one-stop platform for international and remote real estate buyers covering entity formation, banking, direct lending, insurance, and remote closing. You can reach Yuval directly at yuval@getwaltz.com. He answers his own emails and LinkedIn messages.
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